The transport minister is under attack for the fare revision system she has brokered from the two rail companies after they merge.
At a joint Legislative Council transport and financial affairs panel meeting lawmakers expressed fears the newly merged MTR Corp and Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation would move quickly on a fare rise after a two-year freeze, introduced last month, ended.
'The period is totally misleading. By the time the companies actually merge, it may already be 11/2 years or more, which means the new company can apply for a fare rise right away,' said Lee Cheuk-yan of the Confederation of Trade Unions.
Democratic Party chairman Lee Wing-tat suggested the government should cap the rate of fare increases at a fixed level.
But Secretary for Environment, Transport and Works Sarah Liao Sau-tung said this was not necessary.
'Adoption of the fare-adjustment formula on future railway fares is already a price cap. It is a step forward from the current situation, when the two railway companies have the rights to set their own fares without the need to seek our approval,' she said.